Charlotte Osei discontinues case against her petitioners’ lawyer

Former Electoral Commission Chair Charlotte Osei, has discontinued her defamation suit against Maxwell Opoku-Agyeman, lawyer of the petitioners whose action led to her removal.

Lawyers for the former EC chair today [Friday], filed a motion to discontinue and withdraw the suit being heard at the high court without citing reasons.

The court, which granted their request ordered Madam Osei to pay a cost of GHc8000 to the defendant.

Charlotte Osei was removed from her position together with two other deputies for varied reasons including “stated misbehaviour.”

Background

Some aggrieved employees of the EC in July 2017 petitioned President Nana Akufo-Addo to dismiss the then Chairperson of the EC, on grounds that she had brought the “Commission’s name into disrepute by single-highhandedly petitioning EOCO on an alleged misappropriation of staff endowment fund for malicious reasons. ”

They further argued that following her appointment as EC Chair, Mrs. Osei “compromised the independence and neutrality of the Commission by arranging for 2015 V8 Land Cruiser… from the office of the President for use as official vehicle without going through the procurement process or recourse to the Commission.”

Prior to her removal, Charlotte Osei filed a suit on Tuesday July 25, 2017, asking an Accra High Court to direct Mr Opoku-Agyemang, lawyer of the petitioners to retract comments she claimed were defamatory in the petition sent to the presidency asking for her impeachment.

In the suit, Lawyer for Charlotte Osei, Thadeus Sory, argued that the “the false and malicious publications by defendant has injured the image of Charlotte Osei and brought her hard won reputation into hatred, ridicule, odium, discredit, contempt, opprobrium and reproach.”

She also asked the court to declare that “the statements by the petitioners are managerially and administratively inept.”